Nova Joelle Stickley - Two Years Old!

Two years ago was an amazing, unforgettable day, as we welcomed our sweet little baby Nova into the world. It was a bit of a crazy time...the end of my 3rd year of residency, Cris finishing up his dissertation, awaiting a travel date to go to Vietnam to bring home Juneau. And yet all of those stresses and worries faded into the background the second we saw this tiny little face. Nova is such an amazing little blessing. Although we hadn't really planned for Juneau and Nova to join our families within months of each other, we truly couldn't imagine it any other way. We can't even think about one without the other. They are an awesome little team, and destined by God to be sisters.

Nova at One Year Old

For days, Nova has been saying "It's gonna be my Happy Birthday soon!" and "after I wake up it's my Happy Birthday!" She has sooooo been looking forward to a day all about her, and she got it:) This morning when we heard her first little peeps, Juneau and I headed in to sing her a rousing round of Happy Birthday To You, which instantly brought a little grin to her face.
The morning only got better when i let her pick anything she wanted for breakfast. She picked Cherry Poptarts....a rare treat :)

While the girls were napping Cris started the ridiculously tedious job of putting together her Birthday present...a little play kitchen.

My mom had planned a little trip to Colorado, and arrived this afternoon. the girls were THRILLED to see her at the airport, and have had an awesome day playing with Grammie. We decided to try out the "airplane restaurant" we had driven by a few times. It's a restaurant in an actual airplane!

Juneau and Gram coloring at the restaurant

The girls LOVED checking out the cockpit

Flying the Airplane

After we got home, Gram helped the girls decorate cupcakes.

Showing off their personalized aprons from Grandma Stickley!

The finished product!

Finally, the moment Nova had been waiting for....Singing the Happy Birthday Song, and blowing out her candles. She has practiced blowing out the candles a million times on her little toy cake, and she was sooooo cute getting to finally blow out her real candles.

Even though we were far from our Ohio family, it felt like they were right here with us. Nova got some AWESOME packages from Grandpa/Grandma Stickley and Mammaw, and she got to talk to Alex, Lyndsey and Brent on the phone, and Skype with Secily and Baby Micah. Overall it was a pretty perfect 2 year old birthday.

A little more about our little Nova,

She is sweet, sweet, sweet. I have been saying that about Nova pretty much since the day she was born. She LOVES to snuggle, and it is so fun to have a toddler who still loves to snuggle. When she wakes up in the morning, or after nap, she loves to spend a good 1/2 hour snuggling. As soon as she wakes up she says "Lay on Daddy's Chest?", and wants to just cuddle up. She LOVES her soft blankies, and if we would let her she would have a blankie with her 24/7.

Nova loves anything that has to do with babies. If she is eating, she wants to use the "baby spoon", if she is coloring, she wants to use the "baby crayon", pretty much anything that comes in a baby version, she wants it. She also loves to play "mommy", and carries around her little babies all the time.

Nova likes to count, and is working on counting to 10 in spanish. She knows a lot of her alphabet, and can say most of the Pledge of Allegiance (a favorite pasttime of Juneau's is to put her hand on her heart and break into the pledge anytime she sees an american flag).

Her favorite song is Itsy Bitsy Spider. She also loves to "dance like a princess" to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. She loves to play dress-up, princess, and pretend.

Her favorite food is rotisserie chicken.

Her least favorite food is Anything Green

Her favorite books are Jazz Baby, and Wake Up Papa Bear

Her favorite Activities are going to the zoo and swinging/sliding at the park

Her favorite possession is her Baby Bear backpack

Her favorite animal is "Scary Guy" (bearded dragon)

Little Nova Joelle, you are such a beautiful gift from God. You are sweet, spunky, and full of personality. Two years ago our lives changed so very much when we saw your face for the first time. We couldn't take our eyes off you, and now, 2 years later, you continue to amaze us every single day. You have the best laugh in the whole world, and we love to find ways to get you to giggle so we can hear that laugh, and see your dimples. We love watching you grow up and learn new things. Stay sweet f0rever, little girl. Love, Mommy and Daddy.